FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 4/19/22

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy basketball is very reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

Just one of these games has really any action at all on Tuesday's injury report.

It's the showdown in Miami, and the Heat's frontcourt could be a bit wonky this evening. Bam Adebayo (quad), Dewayne Dedmon (ankle), Markieff Morris (hip), and P.J. Tucker (toe) are all listed as questionable. They're all likely truly questionable considering the Heat's Game 1 blistering of Atlanta.

The Hawks will be without Clint Capela (knee) once more after his injury last Friday against Cleveland.

Minnesota, Phoenix, Memphis, and New Orleans enter Game 2 at full strength, but the Pelicans are also still ramping up Zion Williamson if they stay alive.

Guards

C.J. McCollum ($8,400): The Pels will likely need to push McCollum and Brandon Ingram well in excess of 40 minutes to keep pace as 9.5-point underdogs in Phoenix, so those heavy minutes bring both into play. McCollum's tier of guards is shorter on viable alternatives, and it's worth remembering that New Orleans (21st in regular-season pace) will be seeing an uptick in possessions all series against the Suns (9th).

Patrick Beverley ($5,700): It didn't feel like it compared to his viral energy against the Clippers, but Beverley had an even better contest Saturday in Memphis. He posted 10 points, 6 boards, and 6 assists. Truly, this salary feels like a bargain considering Beverley's yet to record multiple blocks or steals in the two must-win games so far. He's a crucial mid-range option with a full-time role and a $1,100 gap to the next point guard in salary.

Others to Consider:
Chris Paul ($9,600): The salary increase feels heavy to me, but I'd still prefer him to Ja Morant or Trae Young.
Kyle Lowry ($7,000): Now when the games count, 1.23 FanDuel points per minute. Not a surprise. Could also have a larger role if Bam sits.

Wings

Jimmy Butler ($8,200): Butler's health was the biggest victory for Miami on Sunday. He played 33 minutes in a decided affair -- presumably just because he was feeling well. Even with the blowout concerns in this space, Butler is under-salaried for the 27.8% usage rate he carried in Game 1. For context, that's an offensive workload better than Anthony Edwards' and Jayson Tatum's -- both salaried well above $9,000 at this juncture.

Desmond Bane ($5,600): numberFire's projections list Bane and Dillon Brooks as two of the top value options of the day, and that concurs with my overall strategy to target Grizz players. Memphis, in their loss on Saturday, was incredibly reliant on Ja Morant, who posted a 35.6% usage rate. This has been a more balanced offense all season, and as a result, they post multiple starters below $6,000 who could erupt in the scoring column.

Others to Consider:
Anthony Edwards ($9,300): Feels like this is a bubble about to burst, but he's just on the court so much that he'll have a floor at this salary.
Jae Crowder ($4,200): Got some cardio in solely jogging on Easter Sunday, but he'll still push a full-time role and is -- by far -- the lowest-salaried place to find one.

Bigs

Bam Adebayo ($7,900): Miami's approach will be fascinating in this one. Adebayo just returned from COVID-19 protocols and picked up an apparent quad injury, so I have no idea if he'll suit up for Game 2. On the heels of Bam's poor FanDuel performance, I can buy into a player who posted 1.23 FanDuel points per minute in the regular season if he does suit up. That's a major "if" though, and Miami's urgency seems fairly low.

Jaren Jackson Jr. ($6,600): Though he was limited to 24 minutes in foul trouble, Jackson managed seven blocks to salvage his afternoon on FanDuel. Foul trouble is going to be a risk all series with Karl-Anthony Towns on the other sideline, but he's primed to contribute better on the glass moving forward. Minnesota was the second-worst defensive rebounding team (70.6%) in the regular season.

Others to Consider:
Karl-Anthony Towns ($10,000): A center projected for about 40 minutes with a 240.0-point total on deck is hard to pass up.
Herbert Jones ($4,700): Like Crowder, a valuable full-time role in the $4,000 range. Atlanta's rotation is a mess with the part-time return of John Collins.